Wednesday, May 2, 2018

BlackRock Goes For Private Equity Margins

BlackRock Inc said on Monday it is hiring two specialists from Goldman
Sachs Group Inc to bolster its private equity business in New York,
according to a staff memo.

Steve Lessar and Konnin Tam will join the world’s largest asset
management company from Goldman Sachs this summer, according to the
document, which was seen by Reuters.

Each will be responsible for expanding BlackRock’s role within a
business that effectively enables investors in private companies and
funds that invest in such firms to resell their stakes to other
institutions. Normally, that money is locked up for years.

This market for “secondary” private capital saw a record $58
billion in transaction activity in 2017, according to investment bank
Greenhill & Co Inc, with money chasing better returns than exist
within public markets....

...Larry Fink is no fool, he knows where the big margins (highest fees) are
in asset management and it's definitely not in stocks & bonds,
BlackRock's traditional bread and butter business.